[FishnFool]

Originally Posted by oranginauk

I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.

As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.

The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.

Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.

I hope you feel comfortable enough to express your concerns to the friends you have made here. I have no doubt that if your friends know how you feel, they would show their support and have your back. I believe that 99.999% of people are against White Supremacy, this includes folks here in The Villages too.

As a single woman of color, you are a minority in The Villages on several levels, and its understandable why you might have concerns. But please rest assured the only minority most of us want to feel uncomfortable living here or anywhere are White Supremacists.

Unfortunately the Coronavirus has amplified peoples feelings of being vulnerable and isolated, and has most of us all feeling afraid for various reasons. I am with you regarding your statement "The country is frantic now and I am afraid" as I don't do chaos well. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot of people, with various points of views (on sooo many subjects right now) that are having difficulty expressing those views in a civil way. Seeing it happen in our "Bubble" is disappointing and feels just too close to home. We can do better than this and we all have to try.

I am glad you chose The Villages as a place live, it truly is a wonderful place to be! It is one of the safer places to live during our senior years and we are a community where folks can count on each other for support, especially in times of need.
If some reason you continue to experience these concerns please don't be afraid to let us, your friends, your neighbors know since it is important that in addition to being safe that we need to also feel safe.

[camaguey48]

Originally Posted by oranginauk

I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.

As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.

The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.

Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.

You are safer here. How about the woman screaming the F word at the golf car parade? Did you conveniently forget her? I know who she is and I avoid her; she is toxic as well as the White power guy. A friend stated that she doesn't see color. I say that is the dumbest and most condescending thing I have heard. The color is there, accept it and accept the person for who they are in terms of character and decency.

[DrBrutyle109]

You need to watch the whole video. There are people who are idiots no matter where you live. I’d like to think there are less here. It’s the old saying, don’t let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch.

[Miguel 1952]

Originally Posted by camaguey48

You are safer here. How about the woman screaming the F word at the golf car parade? Did you conveniently forget her? I know who she is and I avoid her; she is toxic as well as the White power guy. A friend stated that she doesn't see color. I say that is the dumbest and most condescending thing I have heard. The color is there, accept it and accept the person for who they are in terms of character and decency.

😀😀😀

[LG999]

I do not think you are alone in this feeling. I am a white woman. My husband is a white man. We certainly do not feel safe with rioting mobs of violent people destroying property, beating & even killing others who have done them no harm, looting, starting fires, painting blm everywhere, so on. This is a dangerous time and no one can help you or me feel safe except our politicians. Some allow people to break the law and this is the result. If we vote for law & order we may have calm again. I do believe we are safer here in the Villages than anywhere else I know unless you want to go off grid. At least people have guns here & may be able to defend against anarchy.

[jacksonbrown]

Originally Posted by LG999

I do not think you are alone in this feeling. I am a white woman. At least people have guns here & may be able to defend against anarchy.

Thank you LG999, you are a voice of reason.

[terenceanne]

You are perfectly safe as are the rest of us. Don't let a few obnoxious political idiots put you off. With a population of 140k plus there are always going to be a very small percentage who want to ruin it for all.

[Windguy]

Racism came back out of the closet about four years ago and the incidence of violence towards minorities has been on the rise ever since. This is true all over the country and things have gotten really ugly. I’m sorry that it has increased the stress on people of color and I hope you never experience any “Karen” incidents.

TV is no different than the rest of the country. I’ve read MANY racist remarks right here on this forum and it makes me very sad. I am shocked that people would utter such hateful things—especially in public.

Some of the responses to your question tell you not to worry and that TV is safe. Yet many of these people feel the need to own guns to “protect” themselves. If TV is so safe, why do they need guns? I’ve read here how some won’t go to Wildwood or Leesburg without one. It makes me think they don’t feel comfortable around minorities, which I believe is an indicator of racist thinking. The idea of nervous people walking around with guns terrifies me. But, that‘s another subject.

Despite what I’ve said, I don’t think you should move. Much, but not all, of the increase in publicized incidents is due to increased reporting and the fact that more people record and share videos of racist attacks. Also, I hope that this wave of overt racism will pass. Many people who had stayed quiet when witnessing racist acts in the past are now standing up for people being harassed by the ugly Karens. I hope that these racists will be shamed into going back into the closet. In the longer term, I hope our youth, who seem more tolerant of people with different backgrounds, will eventually save the day.

I wish you the best of luck and that you have a safe and happy retirement.

I’ve put on my asbestos underwear, so I’m ready for people to flame me for speaking from my heart. Flame away!

[geobet]

Originally Posted by oranginauk

I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.

As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.

The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.

Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.

Please don’t judge all of us by the actions of a few. We have been here 16 yrs and are just as safe today as back then. Think of us as a city of 120,000 plus residents. We are far safer than most cities 1/2 our size. I, a woman pushing 80, can still ride my golf cart or take a walk at 10 PM and not worry about being mugged. There will always be people who behave like adolescents and those who think they are entitled, but the majority of us, like you, are normal everyday people who respect one another.

[roob1]

///

Originally Posted by Kenswing

As my father always told me.. "Show respect, get respect".

My experience with The Villages is very limited but the short time we did visit, we found everyone to be very welcoming. People of all flavors. We spoke to A LOT of people and there wasn't a single one we wouldn't have sat down to a meal with. Actually we did have a couple of meals with a few Villagers..

[martynpat]

Originally Posted by oranginauk

I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.

As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.

The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.

Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.

Don't get worried by a few idiots. They exist everywhere and usually are just mouthy. Yes, we are friendly and safe. But even more, most Villagers are ready to help any time you need it....don't be afraid to ask. Lots of good folks here.

[Dilligas]

Originally Posted by oranginauk

I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.

As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.

The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.

Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.

Nothing has changed in the time you have been here. The mass media remains the biggest problem for America. Media must sell viewership, so instead of “reporting the news” Media reports their own opinions, which they have to sensationalize to keep viewers (so they think). Turn off the tv and continue with your enjoyable life in retirement. The Villages is probably the safest 130,000 populated community you could live in.

[Girlcopper]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Not touching.

Dont blame you. Lol......

[Marykschulz]

The Sun does not report crime issues. It is the “happy paper” of the developer that sells “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown”.

[GaryKoca]

As others have said, while there are certainly a few white supremacists here in a population of 130,000 - the White Power guy - most everyone here is very nice. And it is very safe. Let's face it, however, there is not a lot of diversity in The Villages.